3. Castamir
Bio by Lyllyn 2.16.04
Title: Captain of Ships
Other Name(s): Castamir the Usurper
Race/Species: Man
Type: Dunadan of Gondor
Dates: III 1239 to 1447
Locations: Gondor, Pelargir, Umbar, Osgiliath
Parents: Unknown, Grand father is Calimehtar
Sibling(s): Unknown
Spouses: Unknown
Children: Names of sons unknown. Great-grandsons were Angamaitë and Sangahyando
Character Description and Notes:
Castamir was of the line of the Kings, being the grandson of Calimehtar, younger brother of Rómendacil II. Romendacil's heir married a Northern woman of Rhovanion, and ruled as King Valacar. The marriage was unpopular with "the high men of Gondor," and "There was already rebellion in the southern provinces when King Valacar grew old."
When he died, many Dúnedain refused to accept his son Eldacar and rebelled. The Peoples of Middle-earth recounts that "Various claimants to the crown appeared, descendants of Atanatar II." According to Appendix A, Castamir "was not only one of those nearest by blood to the crown, but he had the greatest following of all the rebels; for he was the Captain of Ships, and was supported by the people of the coasts and of the great havens of Pelargir and Umbar."
Peoples of Middle-earth, Part 1, Ch VII, The Heirs of Elendil
RotK, Appendix A, I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion
"Castamir had not long sat upon the throne before he proved himself haughty and ungenerous. He was a cruel man, as be had first shown in the taking of Osgiliath. He caused Ornendil son of Eldacar, who was captured, to be put to death; and the slaughter and destruction done in the city at his bidding far exceeded the needs of war. This was remembered in Minas Anor and in Ithilien; and there love for Castamir was further lessened when it became seen that he cared little for the land, and thought only of the fleets, and purposed to remove the king's seat to Pelargir.
"Thus he had been king only ten years, when Eldacar, seeing his time, came with a great army out of the north, and folk flocked to him from Calenardhon and Anórien and Ithilien. There was a great battle in Lebennin at the Crossings of Erui, in which much of the best blood in Gondor was shed.
"Eldacar himself slew Castamir in combat, and so was avenged for Ornendil; but Castamir's sons escaped, and with others of their kin and many people of the fleets they held out long at Pelargir."
RotK, Appendix A, I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion
Timetable:
1432 King Valacar dies; the civil war of the Kin-strife begins.
1437 Eldacar is defeated and the city of Osgiliath taken. Deposed by Castamir, he flees to Rhovanion; Castamir has Eldacar's son Ornendil murdered.
1447 Eldacar returns and drives out the Castamir.
1448 Rebels, including the sons of Castamir, escape and seize Umbar. Umbar remains a danger of greater or lesser extent to Gondor until Elessar assumes the throne at the end of the Third Age.
RotK, Appendix B
The date of Castamir's birth comes from Peoples of Middle-earth, Part 1, Ch VII, The Heirs of Elendil
Title: Captain of Ships
Other Name(s): Castamir the Usurper
Race/Species: Man
Type: Dunadan of Gondor
Dates: III 1239 to 1447
Locations: Gondor, Pelargir, Umbar, Osgiliath
Parents: Unknown, Grand father is Calimehtar
Sibling(s): Unknown
Spouses: Unknown
Children: Names of sons unknown. Great-grandsons were Angamaitë and Sangahyando
Character Description and Notes:
Castamir was of the line of the Kings, being the grandson of Calimehtar, younger brother of Rómendacil II. Romendacil's heir married a Northern woman of Rhovanion, and ruled as King Valacar. The marriage was unpopular with "the high men of Gondor," and "There was already rebellion in the southern provinces when King Valacar grew old."
When he died, many Dúnedain refused to accept his son Eldacar and rebelled. The Peoples of Middle-earth recounts that "Various claimants to the crown appeared, descendants of Atanatar II." According to Appendix A, Castamir "was not only one of those nearest by blood to the crown, but he had the greatest following of all the rebels; for he was the Captain of Ships, and was supported by the people of the coasts and of the great havens of Pelargir and Umbar."
Peoples of Middle-earth, Part 1, Ch VII, The Heirs of Elendil
RotK, Appendix A, I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion
"Castamir had not long sat upon the throne before he proved himself haughty and ungenerous. He was a cruel man, as be had first shown in the taking of Osgiliath. He caused Ornendil son of Eldacar, who was captured, to be put to death; and the slaughter and destruction done in the city at his bidding far exceeded the needs of war. This was remembered in Minas Anor and in Ithilien; and there love for Castamir was further lessened when it became seen that he cared little for the land, and thought only of the fleets, and purposed to remove the king's seat to Pelargir.
"Thus he had been king only ten years, when Eldacar, seeing his time, came with a great army out of the north, and folk flocked to him from Calenardhon and Anórien and Ithilien. There was a great battle in Lebennin at the Crossings of Erui, in which much of the best blood in Gondor was shed.
"Eldacar himself slew Castamir in combat, and so was avenged for Ornendil; but Castamir's sons escaped, and with others of their kin and many people of the fleets they held out long at Pelargir."
RotK, Appendix A, I, iv, Gondor and the Heirs of Anarion
Timetable:
1432 King Valacar dies; the civil war of the Kin-strife begins.
1437 Eldacar is defeated and the city of Osgiliath taken. Deposed by Castamir, he flees to Rhovanion; Castamir has Eldacar's son Ornendil murdered.
1447 Eldacar returns and drives out the Castamir.
1448 Rebels, including the sons of Castamir, escape and seize Umbar. Umbar remains a danger of greater or lesser extent to Gondor until Elessar assumes the throne at the end of the Third Age.
RotK, Appendix B
The date of Castamir's birth comes from Peoples of Middle-earth, Part 1, Ch VII, The Heirs of Elendil
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